John d



I06. COMPOSITIONS,

COATING OR PLASTIC.

UNITED STATES Cross Reference" PATENT OFFICE.

WATER-PROOF compost-non.

, SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 254,461, dated March 7, 1852.

Application filed January 24, 186. (Specimens.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1. JOHN D. CnEEvEa, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful improvements in water-proof compositions or compounds capable of being pressed and calendered into sheets and shaped bymolds into various useful and ornamental forms and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. ,1 first take of jute reduced toshort fibers of about an-eighth to three-eighths of an inch in ,length in any suitable mill, as those employed for grinding'woolen rags in the manufeature of shoddy, t'orinstance, thirty pounds; no waste or spent tan-bark dried and ground to a fine powder, fit'ry pounds; pagodite or agalmatolite, ground also to n tine powder, thirty pounds; red chalk or red oxide of iron and clay reduced to a fine powder, twenty pounds 2 flour sulphur, one and a quarter pound, and mix the whole together in a suitable mill or mixer. The next step consists of the addition of ten pounds of the oily, pasty product of po troleum known as Vaseline (so named and 6 described in the specification of the patent .dated June 4, 1 872,1No. 127,568, granted by ,the United States to Robert A. Ohcsehrough) and twenty pounds of caoutchouc to the abovedescribed dry mixture. To accomplish this with facility the caoutchouc is made miscible by coal-taror petroleum naphtha, and the vaseline thoroughly mixed with it and then added to the powders on the mullers or masticators employed in the manufacture of india-rubber o compounds, or

the whole together in a large iron mortar and then completing the incorporation of all the .ingredients by the masticator above named.

Artificial temperature is not required for the 4s P p s The compound thus formed isspread into sheets of any desired thickness by means of t A strongiron rollersor calendars heated by steam to a temperature of 150 to 200 Fahrenheit.

An application of the compound is for floor- Y coverings. For this purpose the sheets should by first pounding and stirring be'spread on cloth or bu lips made from jute and prepared to receive the sheeted compound as follows: In thirty gallons of hot water I dissolve twenty pounds of glue, five pounds of yellow soap, and five pounds of alum. When these are all dissolved the surface of the solution is skimmed, and when desired coloringmatter is added. The burlaps is immersed in the hot solution atew minutes, then passed or drawn through rollers to press out the superfluous liquid,and ealendered by hot iron rolls at a uniform tension. The burlaps thus treated becomes firm and suitably prepared to receive the compound sheet, while the sizing is insoluble and of the required flexibility and pliability. The sheets formed as now described are cured, vulcanized, or toughened by treatment with a solution of protochloride of sulphur in disulphide of carbon in the proportions of about two parts of the former undone hundred parts of the latter, by weight. The solution is applied by a brush, and as quickly as possible the part treated is rolled so as to confiue the volatile solution within the folds, and thereby economize the quantity required. to eflfect the change. The roll thus treated is allowed to remain a few hours and then unrolled which in a short time removes any unpleasant odor occurring from the use of the disulphide of carbon. When completed these sheets resemble leather in appearancr and flexibility, and they maybe varnished,p nted,or printed in any desirable patterns and colors. H

Difl'erent-shades of color may be produced by substituting for the ordinary spent tan bark'other lighter or darker po" 'lered barkascork, for example; and'in theplace of the red chalk other earthy pigments maybe used, provided they are neutral to the action of the chrome-yellow for yellow, and a mixture of these .two pigments for green. The composition is adapted to many other uses than for flcor-coverings, as for roofs of buildings, trunks for travelers, books, and glass flasks; and thesheets, when passed through GDIbOSBlllgdda-PBPS, may be painted, gilded, and varnished for'covering the walls of dwellings. In the foregoing I have designated propor- Examiner and the surfaces exposed to the atmosphere; I

chlorine of the hlorid hur. Ultra- 1 marine, for exa'mp e, may be user or blue,

,tious of ingredients which I have found best e for most purposes; but they may be considerably varied. Less caoutchouc maybe used for some purposes, and a larger proportion to 5 advantage when a very tough substitute for leather is designed. I

I have chosen spent tan-balk not only because it answers the purpose well,but because it is almost a waste product and. of compararo tively little cost. This is true also of the jute,

as in the practical manufacture of the compo sition the short fibers are obtained from waste cloths, bag's,-&c., which are remains of articles which haveserved their purposes. Other 15 fibers of like physical properties may be employed-as, for example, hemp and tow. 1 do not therefore desire to confine myself to the precise proportions named, nor to the fiber of jute, nor powdered bark which has been em- 20 ployed in the tauniug'of leather.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

Theherein-described compound for water- 2 5 proofing, con sistingof a strong vegetable fiber,

finely-powdered minerals-such as pagoditefin y-powdered bark,earthy miuerals-such as cha k, oxide of iron, or the like-and caoutchouc treated with Vaseline or other product of petroleum, with or without coal-tar or bitu- 0 men, allsubstantially as set forth.

. 2. Powdered barkin combination with short fibers cemented together by caoutchouc, substantially as described.

3. The mixture of jute fiber, prepared as de- 5 scribed, with powdered bark in compounds of which caoutchouc is the ceinentingingredient.

4. The use of Vaseline in componndsot'caontchouc. o

5. The process of prepariug hurlaps to receive acomponnd coating, consisting in applying to the same by hot calendering a. composition of glue, yellow soap, and alum, all substantially as described. 5

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN D. OHEEVER- 

